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Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you."
- Luke 12:13-31
In yesterday's reading, we read that as Jesus criticized the practices of the scribes and Pharisees, they began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him. In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops. And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him! Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." St. Ambrose of Milan has written: "This whole passage is provided so that suffering may be endured for confession of the Lord.… Since greed is often accustomed to tempt virtue, the Lord adds the precept to remove this sin by stating the precedent, 'Who has appointed me judge or divider over you?' He who descended for a divine purpose fittingly declines earthly tasks and does not allow himself to be a judge of lawsuits and an arbitrator of riches. He is to judge the living and the dead and apportion deserts. You must not consider what you seek but from whom you request it. You must also not think that you must shout against big or little things. This brother is fittingly rebuked. He eagerly desired to trouble the steward of the heavenly with the corruptible. Not a neutral judge but piety as mediator should divide an inheritance among brothers, although people should seek an inheritance of immortality, not of money" (EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.122.2). My study bible points out that it was a custom for respected rabbis to arbitrate personal disputes.
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." My study bible says that the question "Whose will those things be which you have provided?" is the real key to understanding the saving up of material goods. It cites St. John Chrysostom as saying that the only barns we need we already have: "the stomachs of the poor." It notes that St. Basil the Great taught that the bread in our cupboard belongs to the hungry man; the coat hanging unused belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in our closet belong to the one who has no shoes; and the money we hoard belongs to the poor. St. Ambrose teaches, "The things which we cannot take with us are not ours. Only virtue will be our companion when we die." Finally, my study bible notes: "Even when Joseph stored up grain in Egypt (Genesis 41), it was for the benefit of the whole nation. These teachings apply to parishes as well as each person."
Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." My study bible suggests that Jesus is warning here against anxiety -- not against thoughtful planning. "Our physical well-being is directly dependent on God, and only indirectly on food, drink and clothing. Anxiety over earthly things demonstrates a lack of faith in God's care."
I can say that I have had experiences with lost inheritances: a will deliberately hidden or lost, not publicly filed in accordance with state law, relatives who've insisted that a very small portion of a relatively inexpensive piece of land wasn't truly meant for me to inherit despite the trust that declared it so -- nasty sniping that went on in cruel ways for decades. Yes, I have had experience with contested inheritances, and things "stolen" in this sense of coverup or other denial of the wishes of the deceased. But at every step, I gave it up to God. And I must testify that although I lost a lot (most painfully in the heartache, stress, and disappointment over once-trusted relationships), God has blessed me with much more than anything I lost, despite even the loss of "family" via such experiences. The understanding of what it is to scatter and divide is certainly deeply painful truth. God taught me about myself, about security, and blessed me with a spouse who, to use the words of Hannah's husband, "is better to me than ten sons." Which is to say that in my own way, I want to bear witness to Christ's words and teachings as they have worked in my life. I think the really great key to this passage is Jesus' command to "seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." God knows the things we need, and the things we have should be used to remember the poor; but truly life is filled with so much more than the material alone. It's the kingdom of God that gives meaning to the material things we have, values by which to live our lives in this world, a reason and a way to negotiate the cares and concerns that we all have. It is a particular kind of running battle to struggle against what the world seems to demand (like how we impress others) and remember what the Kingdom asks instead. I think it's important to take note of my study bible's emphasis that Christ preaches about a kind of unnecessary anxiety, one which may lead us not to put the Kingdom first, but money first. It's good to remember that St. Paul said, "The love of money is the root of all evil." Note that "love of money." The emphasis here is on what we put first, what we love, and thereby, what we adore and worship. From my personal experience, I would suggest to anyone that the importance of this cannot be underestimated. The essential importance of prayer to making such decisions about what we do with wealth becomes a great consideration; what does God's love teach us? What guidance do we receive? We do well to remember His teachings in all things. I also have known dishonest people to use showy contributions to give money to religious institutions, money stolen from others who were poor (like this famous example). Let us remember what it really means to seek God's kingdom first. Jesus speaks of "He who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Let us remember what is truly a part of the soul, what feeds and enriches everything else in life. The whole Gospel message can be summed up in the idea that whatever else we try achieve, we need to be rich toward God.
